my journey with the barefoot horse

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Editor predicts the end for shoeing…

Meet the magazine editor who says, the day is coming closer when horse shoes will be gone from the horse’s life. As more and more riders discover the joys and benefits of riding barefoot Lindsay Setchell (left) urges other countries to follow the example of the Netherlands and outlaw the traditional lifestyle of the domestic horse – a lifestyle that includes hours of stabling and isolation and is increasingly blamed for hindering the animal’s ability to walk on his own hooves.

Lindsay, a former science teacher, turned to barefoot when her pony, Sunny, went down with laminitis. In spite of remedial farriery, her vet advised that the pony be put to sleep.

The vet was sacked. So was the farrier. Lindsay trained to be a barefoot trimmer with Jaime Jackson. Now she is part of the Hoofing Marvellous group of trimmers in south west UK and editor of the country’s only glossy magazine about barefoot.

Find out how she got there…and whether Sunny was saved!

Please tell us a bit about yourself…

I’m a busy self employed mum of 2 girls. I have 14 horses of all different shapes, sizes and breeds, 3 dogs, 2 cats and 3 pigs! Up until about 10 years ago I was a full time science teacher working in a secondary school in Cornwall, UK, with a very prosperous career ahead of me. I have a BSC (Hons) in Marine Biology and a PGCE in Secondary Education. When I trained to become a natural hoofcare practitioner I didn’t account for the fact that in the field I would come across situations where horses needed more help than owners were able to give them and where no other humans were stepping in because the situations had become so bad…and so I did. Partly to prove that this system works over a variety of breeds, shapes and sizes and partly because I struggle seeing horses suffering when I know I can do something about it relatively quite simply.

And about your training to be a barefoot trimmer…

About 16 years ago one of my ponies, Sunny, became acutely laminitic but after following all the advice from the vets and remedial farrier, my pony wasn’t recovering and I was told to put him to sleep. Having a science brain & background I decided to research as much as I could about laminitis and came across Jaime Jackson and a little red book called “Founder, prevention & cure the natural way.” That was it, I was hooked. I sacked the vet and the farrier and started to learn all I could about natural hoofcare. My pony recovered soon after and is still with us today and has never had another bout of laminitis. I carried on teaching but decided to train to become a hoofcare professional. I started my training with the UKNHCP in the UK but then went over to the USA to complete my training alongside Jaime Jackson himself (pictured above with Lindsay). I became a fully qualified Natural Hoofcare Practitioner with the AANHCP and have trimmed in the USA, Denmark, Holland, France and Spain.

And about your involvement with horses…

I have personally owned horses for about 20 years and I’ve studied Natural Horsemanship for about 10 years. I was a madly into horses when I was youngster at school but my parents could never afford to buy me one or send me for any lessons. So I volunteered every Saturday at a local riding stables and then went on to do my school work experience with horses. Unfortunately I then moved away from horses, went to university and then into teaching. It wasn’t until many years later when I had land of my own that I was able to eventually start to own horses myself.

In your opinion, is there another animal whose lifestyle has been so altered as the horse?

Many animals have been domesticated and ‘used’ by humans but the horse is probably the one animal who has suffered the ravages of the entrapment of domesticity the most, with respect of the impact on it’s general health and well being.

How healthy is the domestic horse?

In general not very healthy at all. A domestic horse has had most of its species specific needs artificially altered & interrupted by humans. Domesticity has seen significant negative changes in diet, movement, company and health of the horse. Moving into the 21st century the horse is now mirroring the ill health of its human guardians.

The English vet Bracy Clark feared 200 years ago that metal shoeing was crippling horses and shortening lives. Do you agree? How harmful is shoeing?

Absolutely! I couldn’t agree more with Bracy Clark and what a difference the world would be for horses now if his peers at that time has listened to him rather than mocked him. Shoeing causes dependency, contraction, atrophy and a myriad of other pathologies in the horse as well as hiding crucial signs that could help an owner recognise inflammatory problems such as laminitis.

Can you describe the moment you decided not to shoe your own horses?

Yes. On researching about laminitis and reading all of Jaime Jackson’s books all those years ago when Sunny was very poorly, I also came across Hiltrud Strasser, a controversial German vet. She had written a few books that were quite technical but they totally hit the spot in my understanding. One in particular called ‘Shoeing, a neccessary evil?’ drove it home to me how terrible shoes were for a horse’s health and I swore never to put a shoe on a horse again. That coupled with the knowledge that the remedial heart bar shoes that had been fashioned for Sunny (pictured left after his recovery) had not helped him to recover, just cemented the decision that shoeing was utterly unnecessary.

In your work as a trimmer you must see a lot of hooves…tell us about some of the most challenging cases.

Probably the most challenging cases are those equines who have been having chronic and acute laminitis for a very long time. Their hooves are so desperately distorted and their bodies, general health and well being are extremely compromised. This coupled with the often difficult challenges facing the owners with respect to changing the diet and management sufficiently for those horses to recover, makes these kind of cases very difficult emotionally. Physically, trimming poorly distorted laminitic hooves is not that demanding but keeping owners on the right track in order for their pony or horse to recover is certainly where the greatest challenge lies.

Can any horse go barefoot and be ridden?

Absolutely any horse of any breed, no matter what state their hooves are in, can go barefoot and recover if given a species specific natural diet, management and trimming regime. However, there are horses, thankfully very rarely, who are so terribly poorly and have been for far too long, who have often had too much medicinal and mechanical intervention, that the road back to health is just not possible. You don’t think you will ever come across them when you start this amazing job of helping horses become healthy – but if you are in this business long enough, you will inevitably come across them. I remember reading once in my early trimming days a quote from Pete Ramey saying ‘you can’t save them all’ and I remember at that time thinking, pfff what tosh, but he was right and it does happen, thankfully extremely rarely, but you never forget the look in those horse’s eyes.

What should people do and what should they expect when shoes are first taken off their ridden horse?

They should always make sure the diet is as natural and stripped back as possible. Find a way of encouraging lots of gentle free movement and be prepared to take the time it takes for their feet, bodies and minds to begin to recover. More often than not, owners are pleasantly surprised at how very quickly they can go back to normality with their horse doing all the things they were enjoying before the shoes were removed. I always, always say to a new client that I won’t remove their horse’s shoes unless they are prepared to purchase a set of boots for all 4 feet….this is usually unnecessary but as long as I have that reassurance from them then off the shoes will go!

What is the ideal diet for a barefoot horse?

24/7 365 mixed meadow hay (no rye or very low rye/alfalfa). No bagged feeds unless the horse is underweight and then only specific low calorie/sugar feeds. A good mineral/salt block available at all times. Very little or no grass and lots and lots of movement with company. Simple really. The biggest challenge for most owners is sourcing good mixed meadow no rye hay/haylage.

And lifestyle?

Turned out in company with lots of movement but very little grass. One of the safest ways to achieve this is by setting up a simple track or Paddock Paradise system.

What is the biggest single obstacle in the way of barefoot progress?

Humans!

Tell us about the amazing magazine…Britain’s only glossy mag about barefoot…

I started to produce a newsletter some years ago for all my clients because they were often far apart and lacked support. They felt they were being let down, not catered for and marginalised by the main stream magazines and so the newsletter naturally evolved into an online magazine. As this became more popular, people started pleading for a printed version and so just over a year ago we went into print. We are now at Issue 12 and becoming more and more popular among barefoot owners across the globe. We pride ourselves in being quite unique with respect that the magazine is filled to brimming with owner’s own stories, written by them, telling the readers about their own barefoot journeys and this makes the magazine very personal and reaches out to others in similar situations. Here’s a link to the magazine.

Do you have a top story you’d like to share?

Yes. A story I will always remember and love was by a Polish girl called Iga Przybszewska and her beautiful chestnut horse Damiro who had been diagnosed with navicular in Poland. He had moved from one vet to another, with all kinds of remedial farriery and intervention, trying to be fixed. Iga contacted us with Damiro’s story and we published it in our very first printed magazine in Issue 6. Iga and Damiro were on the front cover with the title ‘Chestnut colour of love’. Fab story with a brilliant ending!

What is your vision for the future of the domestic horse? And for the magazine…?

My vision for the future is to keep faithfully educating owners and improving the domestic conditions for our horses. I have always said that within the next 15-20 years we will see a massive decline in shoeing and a massive increase in owner’s understanding to the point that shoes will eventually be outcast from use on the domestic horses. That day is getting closer! The magazine will be in the forefront of that education and inspiration and will continue to increase awareness of the beauty of the healthy barefooted horse across the globe.

I’ve made you Prime Minister for a day…what would you change for the world of the horse?

I would follow in our counterparts’ footsteps in the Netherlands and only allow limited stabling per day, make it illegal for horses to be turned out alone without at least one member of its own species, not across a fence. I would encourage the RCVS and FRC to introduce natural diets and management regimes into their syllabi, educate charities and RSPCA inspectors on how to recognise and naturally treat lamintis and stop pharmaceutical companies ruling the roost!

ABOUT ME

I’m a book writer and journalist but horse riding is my great love and I have been a barefoot advocate for a long time. The shoes were taken off my horses about 16 years ago as soon as I realised the harm they were causing. My non-fiction book – A Barefoot Journey – tells the story of riding without shoes in a hostile equine world. Mistakes, falls and triumphs are recorded against the background of a divided equine world which was defending the tradition of shoeing…with prosecutions. Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US – paperback for £2.84 and Kindle for 99p.

‘The best book I have ever read, everything was so interesting. And gave the courage to be barefoot and proud of it!!! I always felt the same in my heart but this book just backed up everything I thought. Thank you for writing such an amazing book’ – Amazon reader.

‘I loved reading this intelligently written book. It’s so good I think every hoof trimmer should hand this book out to clients who are going barefoot for the first time’ – Natural Horse Management magazine.

My historical novel, The First Vet, is inspired by the life and work of the amazing early vet, Bracy Clark – the man who exposed the harm of shoeing 200 years ago but was mocked by the veterinary establishment. His battle motivated me to stretch my writing skills from journalism to novel writing and took me to the British Library and the Royal Veterinary College for years of research. Paperback price £6.99, Kindle £2.24 –Amazon UK. Amazon US. This book has more than 50 excellent reviews on Amazon and a recommend from the Historical Novel Society.

Here’s one of my favourite quotes from Bracy himself – ‘A horse that is free of pain will lead from the thinnest piece of chord.’

‘Fantastic read, well researched, authentic voice, and a recognition of the correlation of our best slaves- horses- with the role of women throughout history. If you are into history, barefoot horses, and the feminine coming of age story, then this book is a must read’ – Amazon US reader.

If you want to keep in touch, click the follow button on this blog or find me on Facebook…Another historical, horsey novel is in the pipeline. I am being inspired by a very famous equestrian campaigner from the past who quietly made such a difference to horses. I’m more than half way through the first draft – blending fact and fiction is such fun! And so many people have asked me to write a sequel to The First Vet. But I think I should feature one of Bracy Clark’s colleagues. It’s on the ‘to-do’ list…xxx

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3 thoughts on “Editor predicts the end for shoeing…”

I love this post, I only have one question: why do you recommend to cut out rye / alfalfa hay (lucerne hay in Australia) from the horse’s diet? As far as I am aware, there is nothing wrong with these hays, provided the horse receives enough exercise. I also have to say it is very hard to get simple grass hay where I am. Our choices are lucerne, wheaten, oaten, rye.

Hi Dinka, thanks for commenting. I know more about rye grass/hay as it is grown so widely in the UK. It is very high in sugar and can give horses metabolic issues and also laminitis. I have a laminitic horse and avoid it. Alfalfa, I know less about but I have heard reports of people experiencing problems.